Yesterday I spent several hours cleaning the waxy residue from a Shapeways part printed in their translucent ultra fine material. This particular part was very complex and had a much heavier coating of the white waxy residue than I’ve experienced on other parts. As it had so much wax, I had to scrape it off with my ceramic seam scraper and a dental pick and then scrub it with hot soapy water and a tooth brush. I spent about 4 hours on this one part and ended up going through 5 cycles of scraping and then scrubbing in hot soapy water until I finally got rid of the last of the residue.
I’ve previously tried Windex and isopropyl alcohol to clean the Shapways parts without success.
What have others used to get rid of this residue without crazing the plastic?
I’ve seen lots of suggested methods on SW, but you want to avoid any harsh chemicals. The wax has a melting point around 40 degrees C, and the plastic distorts at 80C, so you want to soak the part in water around 50C if possible to melt as much wax as possible. But in my experience the white stuff that forms where the wax supports were is actually resin that was in contact with the wax, (kinda like flash on plastic parts) so the only way to remove it is scraping it off. Warm soapy water followed by clean water is a must regardless, as is an initial couple of hours in the sun to finish the UV cure. Whatever you do, avoid acetone!
I’ve actually found that quick soak/rinse cycles in denatured alcohol are fine. If you want you can also thin the alcohol with a bit water. Don’t leave the part in the alcohol for long, less than 2 minutes to avoid the part melting and then rinse off with warm water. Scrubbing with a medium bristle toothbrush works.
Glad this came up. I have some 1/87 figures and 1/48 figures that the ‘frosting’ just won’t come off. I’ve soaked them in everything imaginable - even months in Simple Green and alcohol, and scrubbing, but some figs are still covered.
I just decided to paint them and claim they have leprosy.